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Virginia Macgregor

Goodreads Author

Born

in Kiel, Germany

Website

http://www.virginiamacgregor.com

Twitter

virginiawrites

Genre

Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary

Influences

Every great book I read influences me from Charles Dickens to Jodi Pic ...more

Member Since

November 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/virginiamacgregorwrites

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I was brought up in Germany, France and England by a mother who never stopped telling stories. From the moment I was old enough to hold a pen, I set about writing my own, often late into the night – or behind my Maths textbook at school. My maiden name is Virginia Woods: I was named after two great women, Virginia Wade and Virginia Woolf, in the hope I would be a writer and a tennis star. My early years were those of a scribbling, rain-loving child who prayed for lightning to strike my tennis coach.

After studying at Oxford, I started writing regularly whilst working as an English Teacher and Housemistress. I now write full time for both adults and young adults. My fiction tackles contemporary issues, often through the lens of family life.

M I was brought up in Germany, France and England by a mother who never stopped telling stories. From the moment I was old enough to hold a pen, I set about writing my own, often late into the night – or behind my Maths textbook at school. My maiden name is Virginia Woods: I was named after two great women, Virginia Wade and Virginia Woolf, in the hope I would be a writer and a tennis star. My early years were those of a scribbling, rain-loving child who prayed for lightning to strike my tennis coach.

After studying at Oxford, I started writing regularly whilst working as an English Teacher and Housemistress. I now write full time for both adults and young adults. My fiction tackles contemporary issues, often through the lens of family life.

My debut novel, 'What Milo Saw,' came out in 2014: it reflects the humour and tragedy of contemporary Britain through four very different voices: 9 year old Milo, 92 year old Lou (Milo’s Gran), 27 year old Sandy (Milo’s mum) and 24 year old Tripi (a Syrian refugee). It explores a range of issues from the nursing home crisis in the UK, coping as a single mum, being a refugee to living with a disability - Milo has a degenerative eye condition called Retinitis Pigementosa which means he has no periphery vision - but, paradoxically, he picks up on more of what's going on than those around him, especially in his Gran's nursing home.

My second novel, 'The Return of Norah Wells' came out in 2016: it tells the story of a mother who walked out on her young family and came back six years later expecting to pick up where she left off . The novel takes place over a May bank holiday and, like Milo, is told through several points of view: Willa (7), Ella (14), Norah (The Mother Who Left), Fay (The Mother Who Stayed) and Adam - the dad. It's a real family drama and I hope that it will lead to some interesting discussions amongst my readers about what it means to be a mum today.

My third novel, 'Born To Be Yours', tells the story of seven year old Jonah, a Kenyan boy abandoned at Heathrow airport. He is taken in by social services and matched with Rosie and Sam Keep, a British couple who long to have child to call their own. As the three of them are brought together they are thrown into a drama which will challenge their notions of what it means to be a family and Rosie and Sam have to confront the hardest question of all: how far are they prepared to go for someone who isn't their own child?

I'm working on my fourth novel for adults, 'Forgetting You', about a man found in Regent's Park with no memory of who he is or where is from. This will be out in 2018.

In 2017 I published my first Young Adult novel, 'Wishbones'. It's been a dream of mine to write for both adults and young adults. The story is also contemporary: it's about fourteen year old Feather Tucker who lives with her morbidly obese mother who has been given six months to live. Feather sees it as her duty to save her mother's life but as she begins to dig into her parents' past to find out why her mother got so sick, Feather's life and that of the people in the small village where she and her family live, change forever.

I live currently live in Concord, New Hampshire, with my husband, Hugh, my two little girls, Tennessee Skye and Somerset Wilder and a wonderful white dogcat (he comes on walks with us), Seb. I love to write in coffee shops and I walk every day, which is as much part of my creative process as putting words on the page. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that readers are enjoying my stories so please get in touch and share your experience of reading my novels.

Do also take a look at my website (www.virginiamacgregor.com) where you can find out more about my life as a writer, upcoming books and events. ...more

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Virginia Macgregor’s books

Average rating: 3.8 · 4,869 ratings · 788 reviews · 9 distinct works • Similar authors

	What Milo Saw 3.77 avg rating — 2,399 ratings — published 2014 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	As Far as the Stars 3.73 avg rating — 787 ratings — published 2019 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Astonishing Return of Norah Wells 3.65 avg rating — 722 ratings — published 2016 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Before I Was Yours 4.18 avg rating — 456 ratings — published 2017 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wishbones 3.95 avg rating — 267 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Found Me 3.85 avg rating — 204 ratings — published 2018 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wishbones: Free Sample it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What Milo Saw 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vad Milo såg 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Virginia Macgregor's Blog

As Far as the Stars due to be published in Russia!

Super excited that my second YA novel, published back in 2019, AS FAR AS THE STARS, has just received an offer for Russian language rights from the publisher Labirint.

Knowing that my books are finding new readers, around the world (especially tougher places that need good stories) is one of the loveliest and most rewarding things about being an author.

AS FAR AS THE STARS is a transatlantic love s Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 22, 2023 05:17

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Thermos Recipes to Make and Go: 35 Hot and Cold Meals and Desserts (Food Matters)

by Carolyn Stone

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Virginia Macgregor is currently reading Thermos Recipes to Make and Go: 35 Hot and Cold Meals and Desserts (Food Matters) by Carolyn Stone	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 05, 2025 08:41AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Thermos Recipes to Make and Go by Carolyn Stone. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Thermos Recipes to Make and Go by Carolyn Stone <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Virginia Macgregor rated a book it was amazing Motherland: Living with Child Loss and Becoming a Mother Again at 57 by Barb Higgins	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 02, 2023 06:31PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Motherland by Barb Higgins. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Motherland by Barb Higgins <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Virginia Macgregor made a comment on her review of Harrow " Thanks so much for the recommendation - I haven't read 'Saving Us' but I'll put that on my list now, and will look up Becky Chambers. Hope you are all ...more "
Sep 25, 2023 05:45AM · see review

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Quotes by Virginia Macgregor (?)

“It was as if when he left he'd taken some of the screws that held her together and now all she could do was walk around all wonky and falling apart”
― Virginia Macgregor, What Milo Saw

tags: deep, funny, ya

5 likes

“It’s like you said, Christopher- knowing someone isn’t about time.”
― Virginia Macgregor, As Far as the Stars

tags: p-229

0 likes

“I remember the thought I had the first time I saw him in the airport: The kind of guy you walk right past. And how, ironically, that was what made me stop and notice him. Because I liked it: how he wasn’t trying to be the centre of attention, like most of the people do.”
― Virginia Macgregor, As Far as the Stars

tags: p-205

0 likes

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Virginia’s Quotes

“It was as if when he left he'd taken some of the screws that held her together and now all she could do was walk around all wonky and falling apart”
― Virginia Macgregor, What Milo Saw

tags: deep, funny, ya

5 likes

“Wishes are false. Hope is true. Hope makes its own magic.”
― Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke & Bone

2046 likes